If you didn't have a bible to tell you these things, would you know anything about your god?

I think you have the right idea as to what satron was asking: what do you actually know? (as opposed to what someone just told you)
I think God is a lot like us but if you were to take all the best attributes of individual persons, and leave out all the bad ones, then being more
powerful in general, and specifically by being able to do things (to help us) which physical barriers would give us too much of a hindrance to do.

An eternally peaceful entity doesn't seek vengeance against those they love and forgive. It's just another example of the many contradictions that
some religious extremists try to paint as the truth.

My experience has been that the vast majority of self proclaimed "christians" aren't really Christian at all, since they choose to embrace the
intolerance and violence of Leviticus' words over the message of love that Christ preached. They work to deny equality to minorities, and do so by
judging others against Jesus' message not to judge. This is, in my opinion, exactly the type of false church that many believe will manifest in the
final days, and the reason that most of these idiots will see eternal damnation for their willful disregard for Christ teachings.

(I'm NOT religious, just trying to present my case from a point that the nutters may understand)

Originally posted by jmdewey60
I think God is a lot like us but if you were to take all the best attributes of individual persons, and leave out all the bad ones, then being more
powerful in general, and specifically by being able to do things (to help us) which physical barriers would give us too much of a hindrance to do.

That is your version of god, but there are many different versions. Which is the right one and how do you know?

it's for us to derive some satisfaction in knowing where they are going

Each and every soul have the right and must be saved and the so called "atheist" are the first that need that.

true after watching many of those serial killer criminology documentaries to try to better understand the atheist I have come to that very same
conclusion. I am only making them aware of their predispositions...

the particular blend of atheism geared toward the youth, and specially youth with heavy metal running in their veins... I have a little more knowledge
of their "trying to be cool" atheism.

God loves us ever so...that he created a place like hell? something doesn't add up.

I think the simplest answer would be that God did not create Hell.
Even Genesis 1 does not say God created the entire planet. It says that God (or, the gods) created heavens and earth, by which it means the dry land,
and the atmosphere. Today, in our vocabulary, we hear the word, earth, and think it means Earth, the planet. In Genesis, it just means something like
what you can pick up and hold in your hand.
God made an inhabitable biosphere for us to live in and left the things not involved with our lives as-is. The universe was created by something, not
a being, but what could exist in the void. Whatever that was does not exist in the same way it did, since now it is in the universe, which is why it
created the universe, in order to have a place to live in and to have a real sort of being. A universe did come about but it was what could be created
by that thought, and did not have that thought all the way to the end, an end we have still not gotten to, since the thing we can think of as the
primeval thought incorporated itself into the universe at some point in the process, so it just continued on in that process according to a plan that
existed, but without the ever-present unseen hand of the creator.
The continuation of the primordial "thing" manifests itself in the universe through the sentient beings, including ourselves, and what we call, God.
God, at this point, when it came into being within creation, was not part of that massive creation, but participates within what had already been
created through that process started before time. God cared about the less powerful beings, that still were part of that "knowing" from beyond the
void. So God made things better so we could live in the universe, and thus fulfills the desire from which we all came.
What we ended up with was this huge physical thing which is the universe, which goes along with what seems to be its own set of laws. Among those
things are laws of life and death for all things living, us included. God does His best to work within certain preexisting parameters to bring about
the best life can offer, and that also means, as in the Gospel, life more abundant, and what we might call eternal life, which Jesus spoke about. This
would involve taking measures against the natural order of things, which would be hell, which God did not create, but which just exists, as part of
what the universe ended up being. God is not going to create a new universe, but teaches us how best to live in this universe, and that includes how
to get out of hell with our original identities intact, meaning we will be back to who we were before, and not just an unidentifiable particle of life
force going to a new person.

Originally posted by sting130u
Wanna risk it thinking your oh so smart, big ego, I am right everyone else is wrong mentality than fine. Don't say thousands of people didn't try
warning you through out your life time. Your going to get to watch every single time someone told you the gospel, and you will see every response you
had.
.

Wait, don't you think that you are right and everyone else is wrong? I don't think that, but I think you do. Did you know that Allah is going to
punish you forever? Aren't you worried about that? Don't you see the dilemma here?

No, and I would appreciate it if you would stop trolling my messages, twisting what I say around. I never mentioned Allah, as this is a different god
than my God. I do not pull from the quran, and yes, even before I read the Bible I believed all these things of God. I believed in God before I was
introduced to the idea by churches and adults. You don't know me, I don't know you. But what I can collect from your constant rebuttals is your out
to sway those from their faith and nothing constructive is coming from this conversation. You have all the answers, right? So do I. But I am not going
to give them to you. You find out for yourself. Pick up a Bible, and read the message within. If you still don't get it, thats your problem, not
others.

My God is a loving entity who smites his enemies. His enemies are those that break his laws, the ten commandments. Yes there are wolves in sheeps
clothing, but as far as I know I am not one of those "christians" I do not hate, and I tolerate. I love everyone, even if you don't like me. I
don't care what you think, I have a job to do. Peace.

You're right. Don't be sorry. Logic and God don't go together. Faith and God do however. I believe in a God because I choose to. I have faith that
there is something greater than me holding me together somehow because there have been many parts of my life that have defied logic. If logic dictated
my life I would've been dead a long time ago. Many times over in fact. Therefore, it's a natural act for me at least to go on faith when it some to
a lot of things.

There are some things that you obviously can't take on faith, but believing that the good in life will eventually win over the bad is one thing that
I do take on faith because I see it with my own eyes everyday. If it's happened in the past and the present, which it has, I have faith that it will
happen in the future.

it's for us to derive some satisfaction in knowing where they are going

Each and every soul have the right and must be saved and the so called "atheist" are the first that need that.

The first step in getting someone to listen to you and open their mind to your ideas is by showing respect for their views and ideas.

Pissing people off, telling them you're right and they're wrong, regardless of your belief, simply pushes people away and breeds distrust. Implying
that atheists are deficient in some way and that you're above that is a perfect example of how NOT to proceed if you desire to be heard or taken
seriously.

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